Black Friday helps push Canada November retail sales up 0.4 percent

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OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian retail sales unexpectedly rose by 0.4 percent in November to a record high C$43.03 billion ($34.70 billion), pushed up in part by promotions such as Black Friday, Statistics Canada data indicated on Friday.

Market operators had expected a 0.2 percent decline from October. The previous high was C$42.86 billion recorded in September.

Statscan said unseasonably cold weather and the timing of new product releases had also helped boost sales. Canadian stores have recently started following the example of the United States, where retailers cut prices on Black Friday, the day after U.S. Thanksgiving.

Although sales at clothing and footwear stores rose by 5.2 percent and electronic and appliance stores posted a 4.6 percent advance, gains were only reported in five of 11 subsectors, representing 27 percent of retail trade.

The three largest subsectors - motor vehicles and parts dealers, food and beverage stores and gasoline stations - all posted slight declines from October.